Jim Penner says: ‘It was a cold snowy day as my mother drove my sister and me to church. Living at the bottom of the Rocky Mountains I’d become accustomed to slipping and sliding. I remember my mother being tense… and hoping she’d have enough traction to make the curve without ploughing into the semi-truck ahead. Her tyres were bald—new ones were low on our priority list that included food and shelter. As Mom placed a cheque in the offering that day, I remember thinking there were better uses for those funds. Yet here she was tithing! Surely God would understand we had so many needs at home. But there was a contentment about her… a peace that passed understanding as she gave to the Lord cheerfully and gratefully… After the service a church elder walked over to her and said, “I see your tyres are bald… come by my shop tomorrow and I’ll give you some snow tyres.” Mom said, “But I can’t pay you.” “No problem,” he replied, “I just want to help.” That day I witnessed two levels of giving: Mom with her offering, and a kind man who wanted to help another human being.’

Big things come from little things, and ‘whoever sows generously will also reap generously.’ As John Mason observes, ‘The miraculous realm of God always has to do with multiplication… Suppose a kernel of corn produces one stalk with two ears, and each ear has 200 kernels. From those 400 kernels come 400 stalks with 160,000 kernels… all from a single kernel. Some blessings are material, some spiritual. We don’t always know what we need most, but God does, and a generous spirit opens the floodgates of Heaven.’